Congressman Gets Backlash For Barron Trump Post On Twitter, But Refuses To Back Down

By: Mackenzie Wright | April 19, 2018

A U.S. Congressman is getting slammed for criticizing President Donald Trump's parenting, and making disparaging remarks about his relationship with his youngest son, Barron. The lawmaker wouldn't back down from people who said his post was out of line. Many argue that minor children of presidents should be off limits, but that the public has been particularly hard on Barron.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), one of the lawmakers who has introduced articles of impeachment against the president, has moved from criticizing Trump's job performance to criticizing how he spends his free time. He's also blasted Trump for not spending enough of that time with his youngest son.

Sam Stein of the Daily Beast tweeted about how Trump supporters have been oddly silent this year, considering all the golfing breaks Trump has taken. "I sincerely don’t care that Trump plays golf. god speed. but the sheer amount he plays does spotlight how insincere Obama’s critics were about his golfing habits. here’s a little sampling of people who’ve gone suddenly quiet on the topic," he wrote.

Cohen responded quickly, "He golfs when he could be reading or be in church or be with his family. Never see him with Barron. You’d think he’d be golfing with Dad occasionally but narcissists only engage in activities where they are the show."

"No movies, sports viewing either just Fox! He will start a war!"

The tweet quickly garnered criticism for mentioning the president's 11-year-old son. "You went after a child in a tweet?? What on earth is WRONG with you? Disgraceful and disgusting."

"Should @RepCohen be in Congress with such a sick attitude toward our President? Picking on his relationship with his kid (which isn't in any jeopardy) is very child like," said another.

Cohen stood by his tweet, saying he wasn't putting down Barron at all. His comment was about the president, who he says never spends any time with Barron.

Twitter users were once again quick to jump in and point out that Cohen was wrong. Responses became littered with pictures of Mr. Trump and Barron.

One person pointed out that Cohen had a short memory because he recently had called Trump a 'child president' for a picture in which he was playing around at Christmas dinner with Barron and his grandchildren.

"How do you know how much time he spends with his son? You throw out a nasty tweet with nothing to back it up so you can get on news programs. I here you never spend time with your child what does that say about you," responded another Twitter user.

Barron has gotten more than his share of unfair press since his father took office. In addition to the speculation about his father not making any time for him, he’s been criticized for being upset at seeing Kathy Griffin holding what he thought was his father’s bloody, severed head on TMZ. He’s been made fun of for playing with a fidget spinner, with some people speculating that he’s autistic.

When Trump was elected, there were people who mocked Barron and said he was going to be found starting fires on the White House lawn, or would grow up to be a serial killer. It’s unlikely that any Trump will get a free pass from the president’s critics— even the 11-year-olds.